Near-record rainfall last winter caused a sharp rise in polluted urban runoff along beaches in San Diego County and the rest of Southern California, the environmental group Heal the Bay announced yesterday.

PEGGY PEATTIE / Union-Tribune

Matt Dalton lifted Kaleb Ketchum, 2, to put him on a boogie board with his cousin Devon Lodico, 3, as the water receded at the beach at Tourmaline Surf Park in La Jolla yesterday.

"What this strongly, dramatically demonstrates is that we're not doing a good job of reducing storm water pollution from getting to our beaches," Mark Gold, the organization's executive director, said during a news conference at Tourmaline Surf Park in La Jolla.

The good news is that 80 percent of beaches statewide have excellent water quality during summertime, when beach visitation is at its highest, Gold said.

He spoke after the nonprofit group issued its 15th annual Beach Report Card, which water-quality officials statewide endorse as an accurate gauge of beach pollution.

Heal the Bay included two San Diego County locations – southern Imperial Beach and Pacific Beach Point in La Jolla – on its "Beach Bummer" list of California's 10 most polluted beaches.

Imperial Beach's 1½-mile-long Boca Rio stretch tied with Doheny State Beach in Orange County to top the list. Pacific Beach Point was ranked as the seventh worst.

Targeted beaches

Heal the Bay identified these beaches in San Diego County as having persistent pollution problems:

Imperial Beach – four locations from Seacoast Drive to Border Field State Park

Pacific Beach Point in La Jolla

Mouth of San Luis Rey River in Oceanside

Mission Bay at Campland, west of Rose CreekMouth of San Diego River (Dog Beach)

Mission Bay near Visitors Center

Of 346 California beaches tested regularly during the winter, 90 percent received grades of "fair" (C) to "poor" (D or F). The failing sites had consistently high bacteria readings from April 2004 to March 2005, Heal the Bay reported.

Countywide, 13 of 93 beaches that are monitored regularly received grades of fair to poor. They included the mouth of the San Diego River; Mission Bay at the Visitors Center and at Campland, west of Rose Creek; and the mouth of the San Luis Rey River in Oceanside.

Diane Rose, mayor of Imperial Beach, said she was disheartened but not surprised that the city's beaches near the U.S.-Mexico border were among the most polluted.

Heavy rains collect pollutants from the streets of Tijuana, triggering sewage overflows that end up in the Tijuana River and flow across the border.

"It's really a shame," Rose said. "I'm bummed. We have worked so hard on the city's image."

Imperial Beach's water quality, which received consistently high grades before the rainfall last winter, should improve this summer, Rose said. That's when the Tijuana River's flow drops and any sewage discharges from Mexico are automatically diverted to a sewage treatment plant.

"It's too bad we're getting a bad rap for this one year with a huge amount of rain," Rose said.

High bacteria readings at Pacific Beach Point have confounded city and county officials for years. A leading theory is that the crescent-shaped beach south of the point forms an eddy that traps seaweed and other decaying debris. The cove also has a storm drain outlet that discharges runoff from nearby streets.

Local surfers refer to the cove's elbow as the "stank bank," where everything from kelp to lost watches collects on shore, said Glenn Paculba, a local surf shop owner and surfer. "Customers come into my store and complain about getting sick after surfing there," he said.

Pacific Beach Point is the only beach in California that has cleaner water during the rainy season, said Gold, who theorized that winter's stronger currents and heavy surf produce more mixing action.

On Monday, the City Council allocated $250,000 of sewer department funds for a 12-month study that will pinpoint the source of bacteria at the point.

The Beach Report Card evaluates 460 beaches statewide. It uses a weighted scale – from A to F – based on the severity of pollution and the span of beach affected.

During the past two years, Heal the Bay worked with public health officials and state regulators to finetune the grading system.

"We're really happy with it," said Liz Kanter, spokeswoman for the state Water Resources Control Board.

"It absolutely hits the bull's-eye," said Steve Weisberg, chief scientist for the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, which does field research for public sewer agencies. "It has scientific merit."

State officials use the report card as an informal guide when deciding how to allocate pollution abatement funds, Weisberg said.

Gold, who has a doctorate in microbiology, said he started the Beach Report Card to "raise public awareness and encourage public health officials to do more to protect the health of beach users."

He blamed the federal government for failing to acknowledge the severity of the problem and provide funding so local governments can reduce urban runoff pollution.